Food stamp use reached a record high in June, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture said this week, with 46.7 million people enrolled in
the program for low-income families. The latest figures mean that food stamps
will once again be a flash point in the presidential campaign. The number of
people on food stamps rose 0.4 percent from May and was 3.3 percent higher than
a year earlier.
“Too many middle-class families who have fallen on hard
times are still struggling,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The
program is “one more example of government incompetence,” said Sen. Jeff
Sessions (R-Ala.), who wants cuts in the program. It now costs $71.8 billion a
year.
